You're So Hypnotizing
by orangelawliet
Summary: COMPLETED. All she wants is for him to notice her. Not her, the student, or her, the vice president, but her, the girl. The one who notices him, the boy—and not the student or the president—more than she should. Nathaniel/OC.
1. prologue

**You're So Hypnotizing [prologue.]**

_He never really notices._

She supposes it's the fact that she's so _ordinary_ that he doesn't really notice her. Sure, he has to talk to her and interact with her considering the fact that she's the vice president of the student council, but does he notice her? _Truly _notice her?

She doesn't really think so. All he does is speak, smile that smile he gives everyone automatically, and sometimes, when he is stressed he even hides the stress from her like he hides it from everyone else.

She guesses that she can't really do anything about it; can't _tell_ him to open up to her because it's not right to do so. If he doesn't trust her fully then she can't force him to—she doesn't want to do that, either, because she wants it to be his _decision _to trust her.

But maybe she had always been too positive, too hopeful that something would come from the relationship they have. It is not one of friends, and certainly not one a boyfriend and girlfriend have—it's more of a work-related relationship, since the two of them are in student council and are president and vice president respectively.

However, she does know that he treats her differently than he treats others. He is more relaxed, almost, and tries out his "jokes" on her without much embarrassment or hesitation—she supposes that it's an improvement from how he used to be with her: awkward, hesitant at times, but rather strict and opposing when it came to running the student council and getting her to work. Although, his determination to make the school a better place for students was something she really liked in him and perhaps what attracted her to him in the first place.

Still, she can't help but wonder if things between them will ever change. From the way things are going right now, it doesn't appear they will change at all.

She must stay hopeful, though. She _has _to, because she doesn't wish to give up on him.

Not yet.


	2. part one

**You're So Hypnotizing**** [part one.]**

_He never really __notices._

There is only silence between them as they do the paperwork. And, although she normally would feel awkward in such a situation, she finds herself almost…_calm_ as they do the paperwork side-by-side, their shoulders barely touching as they write.

She's probably so calm because it's Nathaniel who she's sharing this quiet moment with, she supposes. It makes sense, since he always seems to make her feel things that no one else can.

He's the only person who can make her smile whenever, he's the only person who can make her blush akin to a tomato, he's the only person who can make her _really feel_ and she loves it because he makes her feel like a normal girl. And yet, he doesn't make her feel normal for what she feels for him is so _ab_normal, so extraordinary that it brings butterflies in her stomach.

She has stopped trying to give it a name. At first, she had decided it was a simple attraction, and then she felt it was more of a crush, then more of an obsession—but now there is no name for it and she finds that there isn't really a need for a name for what she feels for Nathaniel. She just_ feels_; there is nothing else to it apart from this, in her opinion.

"Oh, there's a new student who is supposed to start off the first day tomorrow, right?" she brings up suddenly, turning towards Nathaniel.

He pauses from signing the paper in front of him, thinking, before nodding his head. "Yes, there is. I forget her name, though. I think its Nora, but I can't be too sure…"

"Debora Stevens," she corrects, and immediately he chuckles nervously, blushing.

"Oh, right—yes, that's her. Do you wish to brief her or should I?" he asks, and then turns to her and their eyes lock and like always she finds herself short of breath. But she schools her expression to one of normalness, as if she _doesn't _feel anything for him and they are only fellow students, nothing more.

"I suppose it's whatever you wish to do, Nathaniel. I don't mind briefing her if you have more important matters to get working on," she replies with a shrug of her shoulders but honestly she doesn't want him to brief her.

She doesn't have anything against Debora Stevens as she hasn't met her yet, but it's a _girl _and a new girl on top of that. Sweet Amoris High has a lot of new students (which is rather abnormal but she doesn't question it since no one else does), a vast majority of them girls, and every single time this happens she dreads it because she doesn't wish Nathaniel to start liking any of them.

All the time, Nathaniel is the one who briefs them, however. He finds that—

"As president, I should be the one to brief her, despite what duties I may have to attend to. I'll do it," Nathaniel says strongly, nodding his head, and goes back to signing.

She stares at him for a while longer; takes in his concentrated eyes, downturned mouth, beautiful blond hair, and most of all the faint dark circles underneath his eyes which he always has. She knows all of the stress he has on him, and wishes to take all of it away, but there is only so much she can do as vice president. Not only that, but Nathaniel can be very stubborn when it comes to his "job" as president. He always wants to do the important matters and is always staying up late to finish off work.

She also stays up some nights to help get the work load off of the boy, but it's no use as there is always so much to do. Thankfully, there are more people in the student council to help lessen the workload, but some of them can be rather incompetent at times. However, they must do with what members they have.

"Alright then," she says, going back to her own work now, "will you excuse yourself from class?"

"Yes," he answers a few seconds afterwards, lifting up one hand and brushing a stray lock away from his peripheral vision, "I will be doing that. I hope we don't discuss important matters for second period…"

She frowns, then says, "I'll give you a copy for the notes I take for second period. We have it together, after all."

He glances over at her guiltily. "Are…you sure? You don't have to—"

"I want to," she tells him, gently but firmly, and sends a small smile his way. She finds it awkward to do so, but when she receives a radiant smile in return, she can care less how awkward she may be at times around people, around him.

"Thank you."

"D-Don't mention it."

Her heart beats irregularly now, because his eyes are locked on hers and that large, happy smile is still on his face and it is like the world is gone and it is just the two of them now. The feeling is one that brings butterflies to her stomach, a blush to her cheeks, and makes her smile less awkward and more true.

But then that moment is gone, and Nathaniel has gone back to work and she is left grinning like an idiot, still staring at him. Blushing some more, she looks away and goes back to work, looking over their budget for the year and fixing any wrong calculations diligently.

There is silence once more, only broken by soft breathing and the scratching of pen on paper.

* * *

When she had first become vice president, she was confused as to why she had tried out for student elections. It honestly hadn't been because she was crazy enthusiastic about school; she had fine grades and paid as much attention in class as possible, but Sweet Amoris High was only a school to her and nothing more.

Still, she _had _to join a club—and gardening club just wasn't cutting it for her, to be honest. It was rather dull at times and she wasn't a huge fan of gardening to begin with. She didn't really like dealing with such delicate plants and there were various bugs within soil, something which she most certainly _did not _enjoy seeing. Basketball and swimming weren't things she enjoyed either, so she supposed that student council would be the way to go.

So when elections came around, she signed up, and remembered glancing up at everyone who had signed up to go for president and saw _Nathaniel _scribbled in elegant script on the form there. She hadn't known him very well then, but remembered seeing his face around a bit—he had also been last year's student council president, too. She had a feeling he would be president this year as well.

And she was right: he won by a landslide, everyone thinking him to be the best student council president. Girls mostly voted for him because of his looks, however. She voted for him because she felt he was a good candidate; his speech had been riveting, almost deep, and filled with a passion she had never heard before. Not only that but he was a good speaker—he made weird jokes, but they made her smile, and he had a kind, accepting smile.

Having signed up for vice president, she had to make a speech as well. She tried her best to make her points original, honest, and filled with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She wasn't a great public speaker but when time came for speeches she gave it her all and tried her best. Thus, she ended up becoming the student council's vice president.

When the first meeting for the student council happened, she found herself riveted by him like she had been with his speech. He was just like what she imagined but even _more_—and he was certainly more attractive up close too. From the very beginning, she found herself attracted to him without even realizing that she was attracted to him.

Their first conversation wasn't really a big one, but throughout it she found her heart beating fast and her hands growing clammier and clammier as time passed. The fact that his eyes were on her and her only scared her, excited her…made her feel things she hadn't really felt before, to be completely honest. She felt awkward, like when she had first begun puberty and the feeling hadn't felt so pleasant to her.

Crushing over guys wasn't something she did. All the boys in Sweet Amoris High were rather immature, childish, or simply rude and inconsiderate. Nathaniel wasn't, however—he was kind, passionate, understanding, and mature. Sometimes _too _mature for his age, as teachers always remarked with fond smiles etched on their faces.

She felt that they were right. Nathaniel was too mature for his age at times and constantly made her feel as if he wasn't getting the right treatment. Had he always been so mature? Had he never acted like a child—silly, uncontrollable and untamable?

The thought was an unnerving one and ever since then she has tried to make Nathaniel loosen up without him finding out about what she was attempting to pull off.

This wasn't an easy feat, however. Nathaniel was too uptight when it came to certain things, especially with the student council, and he was really perceptive so not much escaped his notice.

Nevertheless, she tried, failing each time. But she never gave up.

A few months have passed by and still she is trying, stubborn. She has never been this stubborn, but is realizing quickly that Nathaniel brings out things in her that no one else really can.

Yet another thing to like about him.

* * *

As the bell for the end of second period rings, she packs up her things and walks out the door, waving a farewell to her teacher with a small smile and walking over to Nathaniel's locker. She leans against the locker next to his, waiting.

"May I ask _why _you're standing near my brother's locker?" comes a sharp, shrill voice from behind her. She sighs. _Amber_.

Amber, believe it or not, is Nathaniel's sister. They are completely different from one another and yet they can be quiet overprotective of one another at times—and Amber is _way _more overprotective of Nathaniel than Nathaniel is of her, or so it is believed to be.

Whenever there are new girls in the school, Amber always bullies them into avoiding her brother, something which makes him rather irritated, but he never really calls her out on it a lot.

When she had first become vice president, Amber had sidled up to her and thrown her books all over the hallways, snarling in her face and telling her not to get too close to Nathaniel. She had been scared the first few times Amber had done this, but it hadn't stopped her from liking Nathaniel, and bit by bit she began to stand up for herself.

Amber had been shocked but there had been some sort of weird respect in her eyes, she remembers, and lately she has been bugging and bullying her less.

And so, she turns slowly and sends a small smile her way. "Amber, good morning," she greets calmly. "I'm waiting here for your brother because I need to give him the notes I took for second period class. He didn't come to that period because he was showing Debora Stevens around."

"Debora Stevens?" Amber asks, eyes narrowing at the sound of an unfamiliar name. Of a girl, no less, who was hanging around her brother.

"A new girl," she says, confirming the girl's suspicions. She didn't really want Amber to bully Debora Stevens but it was best not to lie to Amber about things. She could get really nasty.

"Hmph. Well, girls, looks like we're going to say hello to the new girl," Amber told her "friends", who giggled and whispered to one another before following the girl as she began to strut away, a hand flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"See you around, Amber," she calls out, testing her luck and Amber's so-called generosity.

Amber pauses and as do the other girls. She thinks that Amber won't say anything, until she hears a, "Yeah, whatever."

She smiles, tilting her head to the side. Amber wasn't as bad as she looks—she is simply a girl who is looking out for her brother, using whatever means necessary so he doesn't get hurt by girls who are simply looking for a good time and think Nathaniel to be good-looking and naïve.

Then again, Amber also had a weird, up-and-down personality…but she still understood the girl, Nathaniel's sister.

"Was Amber bugging you?"

She turns around to see Nathaniel standing there, watching his sister and her friends walking away with a small, worried frown.

She laughs a bit, shaking her head. "Not at all, Nathaniel. She was just looking out for you."

He sighs heavily, opening his locker and beginning to take out the books he needs for the next class. "Of course she was…" he mutters, then shakes his head and asks, "So what are you doing here? Did you need to tell me something?"

"Well, how was Debora Stevens?"

Nathaniel contemplates this for a bit. "She was interesting enough. Real shy, though—couldn't talk to me, much less look me in the eye! I hope she gets used to Sweet Amoris High quickly enough."

She wants to tell him that she probably couldn't talk to him or even look him in the eye because he is so attractive, speaking from experience because she used to be like that and sometimes still is like that, but found herself unable to do so. Instead, she continued on with the conversation.

"I hope so too. Now, here are the notes I took in second period. Make sure to copy them and give them back to me, okay? We have a test sometime next week, by the way."

Nathaniel accepts the notes she holds out for him with a kind smile. "Thank you so much for this! You didn't really have to."

She shrugs. "Hey, what's a vice president for, huh?" she jokes, chuckling.

But he looks serious now; his smile has turned into a small frown and he doesn't look at all cheerful. "You aren't a vice president just so you can help me with my school work," he tells her strongly.

She blinks. "…that was supposed to be joke, Nathaniel."

He pauses, confused, before looking sheepish. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'm not very good with figuring what are jokes and what aren't."

She laughs. "It's fine! We've been together for a while, you know? Of course I know that about you, Nathaniel," she tells him before her eyes widen. It sounded almost as if they…they were _together_ instead of simply president and vice president of the student council.

Freaking out internally, she looks away from the boy when he realizes the same thing, eyes wide in alarm and a small blush on his cheeks as well.

"We should be getting to class now," she mutters, looking about until beginning to walk away from him. "See you during lunch?"

Nathaniel looks a bit surprised, however he waves goodbye. "Uh, yeah. Sure." His voice sounds weird—surprised and bashful. He still probably is thinking of what she unknowingly said to him. What was _supposed _to be innocent instead sounding as if they were in a relationship they most certainly _were not_ in.

No matter how much she may wish that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

* * *

"How much work do we have, Nathaniel?" she asks, entering the Student Council Room and closing the door behind her when the bell for lunch had rung a few minutes back. She has a few papers in one hand and her lunch bag in the other, her stomach begging for food by now.

He shuffles through the papers spread on the table in front of him, rubbing his chin. "Not a lot," he answers. "I think we'll be done in about a day—maybe even today if we're quick enough."

"You're always quick," she tells him, chuckling softly and placing her lunch next to the piles of papers Nathaniel had placed on the desk, bumping shoulders with him.

He laughs when she does so, bumping her back before beginning to shuffle through the papers, explaining what they have to do.

Apparently, the student council has to prepare a dance for the students for the up-coming Valentine's Day. There were piles of paper filled with ideas, how much budget they have, how much certain things would cost—all sorts of things like that.

Most of it had been taken care of by the others in the student council; now it was just up to her and Nathaniel to finalize everything after having looked everything over carefully.

She gets to work, pushing up the sleeves on the uniform she is wearing before shuffling through her papers herself, pushing back a strand of her hair that came into her face. As she does so, however, a few papers fall onto the floor.

"Oops," she mumbles, bending down quickly to pick them up. When she reaches out for one of papers, however, her hand collides with none other than Nathaniel's hand.

She looks up, eyes wide, to find herself face-to-face with him.

He is crouching down as well, being nice enough to help her pick up the fallen papers. He is frozen, surprised as well; his eyes are on hers and she finds her heart picking up when he doesn't move his hand away from hers.

She glances down, blushing, and slowly begins to retract her hand from his no matter how much she wants to grab his hand and never let go. But surprise fills her once more when Nathaniel grasps her hand, long fingers wrapping around it gently, not forcefully. She can still pull away easily if she wants though she doesn't want to, so she doesn't.

Instead, she looks back up at him and finds him still staring at her, almost as if he's transfixed. Her heart begins to beat faster, almost until she is sure that soon it's going to stop beating altogether but for now it continues to beat quickly.

Does he like her how she likes him? Does this, him holding her hand, mean something to him too? Does he not want to let go of her hand like she doesn't want him to?

Does he…does he want to be with her? _Romantically_? In the way she's always wished to be with him?

The idea makes her head spin, her lips parting as she lets out a small breath.

Immediately his eyes dart down to her mouth, making her blush fiercely. She…she wants him to kiss her. On the mouth. Right here in the student council room, in the middle of school. She knows they shouldn't kiss during school but finds herself unable to care much: she just wants Nathaniel to kiss her, as bold as it sounds.

She begins to slowly lean in but suddenly Nathaniel's eyes widen and his hand immediately lets go of hers. He looks away and begins to pick up the papers, pink dusting his cheeks, and so she shakily begins to do the same, cursing herself on in the instead.

Of course he doesn't like her like that! Why did she lean in? He must think something wrong of her now! What if he is going to be weird around her? What if they go back to being awkward and hesitant, like when they had first met?

All the possibilities bunch up in her mind until she finds herself blinking away tears, standing up and looking over the papers once more. Nathaniel does the same, and the entire time they barely speak to one another.

When they do speak, they do not discuss what had occurred just a while back. Instead, it is all about the Valentine's Day dance and nothing else.

And she is scared, because she knows that nothing will be the same again between the two of them and she isn't sure if she likes this at all.


	3. part two & final

**You're So Hypnotizing [part two/part final.]**

_He never really notices._

Just like she had thought, things aren't the same between Nathaniel and herself. Only a few days have passed, yet the two of them are trying their best to ignore one another. Of course, it doesn't help that they are part of the student council, and _have _to interact since Nathaniel is the president and she is the vice president. Either way, they only talk about work and school, nothing else.

She wishes that she could just swallow her embarrassment and talk to Nathaniel properly about things. Tell him that she liked him more than a classmate or friend—tell him that she wanted to get to know him better, get to know the _real _him, as cheesy as it may sound. But she couldn't. It was too embarrassing, too scary. And Nathaniel might really attempt to ignore her after that, something which she didn't want.

And so, she dealt with it as she usually dealt with things—ignoring it until the problem went away or until the problem grew so big that it practically exploded in her face. Not a great way to handle things, but she wasn't exactly the sort of person who liked to tackle problems. Certainly not a problem as scary as telling the boy of her dreams about her true feelings towards him.

In other news, the Valentine's Day dance is coming up quickly. In just a few more days, to be more precise. As most of it has been taken care of, except for finalizing everything—which is up to Nathaniel and herself—everyone else in the student council were very relaxed about it. However, it's Nathaniel who had to do a lot of the finalizing, while she tries her best to help without having into stare into those blue eyes too much.

Thankfully, with some time, the finalizing has been finished, and everything needed for the dance has been bought. Now, all the student council needs to do is set up everything in the gym. They will have to stay for a few hours after school finishing up the decorations, but she doesn't mind; after all, it's rather fun putting up everything. Not only that, but it's also fun interacting with the other members of the student council.

"No, no!" she says hastily, running over to one of the members. "That doesn't look good over here. Move it to that wall, over there."

"Oh, okay. Will do, Vice Prez!" says the boy, nodding at her and grabbing the streamers he was about to decorate the stage of the gym with. She lets out a deep breath; that's one disaster averted.

"Sheesh, Vice Prez, you should calm down a bit," jokes a member, who apparently had been listening in on the conversation, "or you'll end up with too much white hair to count."

"Or turn into Nate, our lovable Prez," adds another member, and the two of them dissolve into laughter. "That'd really be the day!"

She sighs heavily, rolling her eyes. "Get back to work, you two," she instructs them sternly, but can't stop herself from cracking a smile at their joke.

"Yeah, yeah," they reply in unison, grinning, and go back to whatever it was they were doing.

She sighs once more and grabs some more streamers. Without further ado, she begins to climb the ladder she had placed against one of the walls of the gym. She never really liked heights, so she doesn't dare look down as she climbs up the leader, streams in her hands. Oh God, she hoped she doesn't fall...

"Ah, crap!" she hisses as she nearly dropped the streamers. Her grip fumbles, but thankfully the streams don't fall. Wobbling precariously on the ladder, she is about to shout down at someone to grab onto the ladder when the ladder suddenly stills.

Surprised, she glances down—_crap! Why did she do that?_—to see Nathaniel holding onto the ladder, frowning disapprovingly.

"You really shouldn't climb a ladder when no one is holding it for you, you know," he says sternly. "You could've gotten hurt just now, had I not noticed that no one was holding the ladder for you."

Huh, so _now_ he's willing to talk to her, when she could've potentially gotten hurt. Nice to know. She'll be sure to get herself into another harmful situation the next time they aren't talking to each other. (This is, of course, only sarcasm.)

"Sorry, Nathaniel," she tells him. Then she looks back up before she can properly notice how high she is.

From below, Nathaniel sighs. "It's fine," he says quietly. "Just finish putting up the streamers, would you? Then you can come down and hold my ladder."

It feels much better, knowing that they aren't completely walking on eggshells around one another anymore. She attempts to quell her smile, along with that weird sensation in her chest, but finds herself unable to.

"Of course," she replies, and begins to strategically place the streamers along the wall.

* * *

Glancing around the gym, she can't help but grin to herself at the student council's handiwork. Everything is looking great in the gym, and with the lights dimmed and the Sweet Amoris High students all packed neatly inside, everything looks even better.

Standing from near the snacks table, she crosses her arms and leans back against the wall, tapping her foot along to the music. Her eyes scan the teenagers dancing to the slow beat of the song; all of the couples are close together, arms around waists and hands pressed together.

Almost immediately, she feels a pang in her heart. She wishes she had a boyfriend so she could convince him to dance among all of the other couples with her. But she isn't really good when it came to boys, her sticky situation with Nathaniel being huge proof of that.

"Nicely done, Vice Prez," comes a voice from next to her, and she turns her head to see Castiel standing next to her. He looks bored. His arms are crossed much like hers, and he isn't even looking in her direction. Instead, Castiel is staring at the couples dancing. She turns her head towards them as well.

"Thanks, Castiel," she murmurs, though she can't be sure if he had meant it sarcastically or sincerely. She is leaning more towards sarcastic, however.

To be honest, the two of them aren't exactly friends, but they certainly are not acquaintances, either. Castiel is a rather huge troublemaker, and they had met when he had detention and she was meant to simply look after him for the half an hour. It had been...interesting. At first, they hadn't really said much to one another, until Castiel made fun of her and, unable to stop her motor mouth, she had made fun of him back.

Apparently, she had been "interesting", for Castiel had continued talking with her. They spent most of his detention talking after that, and whenever she had to look after him during one of his detentions, they talked.

Outside of detentions, they don't really talk much. Why, she isn't really sure; Castiel usually pretends he doesn't notice her when they pass by one another in the hallways or during the few classes they have together. In fact, why he is talking to her right now, she has no idea.

"Are you even enjoying the dance?" she questions, turning her head to stare at him finally.

He does the same and smirks down at her. "Not really," he says. "Too many girls keep on asking me to dance. It's really annoying."

She grins. "And do you dance with them?"

"Of course not," scoffs Castiel, as if she has just said something insulting. "None of them are really worth my time. They're all the same, anyway. Just think that I'm some 'cool' delinquent, or think they can 'tame' me or some shit like that. Like I said: annoying."

"Not all of them are bad, though," she tells him. "I know some of the girls who like you. They're nice enough."

"Yeah, but they're not _really _interested in me. Or don't have a legit enough reason to be properly interested," he points out with a simple shrug. "But whatever. It's not like I'm looking for a girlfriend or anything."

"Really? Amber no doubt feels otherwise," she teases, smiling. After all, the girl does have a bit of a crush on him. Well, that's putting it mildly, actually. The girl's _obsessed_. Poor Nathaniel, having to deal with not only a rather bratty sister, but also one who's "in love" with the boy he hates.

Castiel sneers. "Ugh. Don't even _remind _me about her," he groans, shaking his head. "You have no idea how many times she asked me to dance. Not only that, but she also keeps on telling off the girls who ask me to dance. She's the worst."

She giggles at this. "So, what are you up to now? Did you have a go at the snack table yet? The food's good."

"Yeah, it's cool. Oh, by the way, sorry to tell you but the punch is spiked," remarks Castiel off-handedly.

Her eyes widen into saucers, and she whips her head towards the punch. "What? Really?!" But she has been standing right there the whole time! How did someone manage to get by her so easily and spike the punch?

Castiel laughs loudly suddenly, slapping a hand on his thigh. "Oh, you should've seen your face!" he says between guffaws. "You actually believed me! That's _rich_!"

Realizing that he had been lying to her, she frowns heavily. "Ha ha," she says sarcastically, "you're so hilarious, Castiel."

Finally managing to pull himself together, he grins over at her. "Thanks. I try."

Rolling her eyes, she leans back against the wall once more. "So, apart from wanting to make me freak out, why're you here? Don't you have hearts to break or something?" Referring to all of the girls he keeps on turning down, of course.

He laughs at her jibe. "Well, yes, I was here to see your face when I lied about the punch," he informs her, making her roll her eyes once more. He turns his head to look at something—or perhaps someone. "But I'm not here to do just that."

"Huh?" she says, confused. "What's the other reason, then?"

"Piss off Nathaniel," he says to her before beginning to walk away. "See you around."

"Bye, Castiel," she says, blinking warily. What did he mean by 'piss off Nathaniel'? Sure, she knew that the two of them had bad history together, but why would hanging around her make Nathaniel angry?

"Why was Castiel talking to you?"

She turns her head to see Nathaniel, who is currently glaring angrily at Castiel's retreating back.

"No reason," she informs him with a small shrug. "He tried to pull my leg."

Nathaniel finally turns to her, looking perplexed. "He tried to _what_?" he asks her, taken aback.

She laughs when she realizes that he thought she meant literally. "I mean that he tried to make me freak out about something. He told me that the punch was spiked—"

"_What?!_" Nathaniel cries, looking panicked. "The punch is _spiked_?"

"Don't worry," she tells him, giggling, "he was just joking. The punch actually isn't spiked at all."

Nathaniel lets out a deep breath, relieved, before frowning. "That isn't very funny at all, nor a very good joke." He shakes his head slowly. "Typical Castiel."

"Yeah, I suppose."

He glances warily at her. "How do you know Castiel anyway?" he asks, curious.

"Sometimes, when he had detention, I would have to look after him," she informs him. It would've been Nathaniel who would have to do that, but she had specifically told all the teachers beforehand to allow her to. After all, putting Nathaniel and Castiel alone in a room together is _not_ a good idea—the two of them would be at each other's throats in _seconds_.

"Ah, I see," he murmurs, nodding. "So...he hadn't asked you to dance?"

She blinks, thrown off by the question. "No, of course not. He had been whining about how girls kept on asking him, actually."

After this, silence reigns. She realizes that there isn't much to talk about anymore, and so the two of them awkwardly stand side-by-side, watching as another slow song came on. Couples continue to slow dance, and she finds herself daydreaming of slow dancing with Nathaniel before she forces herself to snap out of it. Daydreaming something like that is dangerous. Nothing at all will come from it—nothing _good_, anyway.

"So, what do you think of the dance?" she finally asks him, breaking the awkward silence.

Nathaniel glances around before smiling tentatively. "It looks good," he tells her. "Some things could've been fixed, like some of the sloppy-looking streamers, but apart from that, it's good."

She rolls her eyes at his answer. "Of course _you'd _pay attention to something like 'sloppy-looking streamers', Mr. OCD," she teases.

Nathaniel turns towards her, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't have OCD," he informs her seriously.

"...that was supposed to be a joke."

"O-Oh," he coughs, blushing furiously. "I apologize, then. I'm not—"

"—good with figuring out what are jokes and what aren't, I know," she finishes for him, giggling afterwards. He says that to her so much that she has even memorized it now. That isn't a good thing.

And then silence hits them once more, when she is finished with her giggling fest.

"...would you..." Nathaniel begins, awkward and unsure, which was out of character of him. "W-Would you like to...dance?"

Completely thrown off-guard, she stares wide-eyed at him. Part of her wonders if she heard him wrong, even though she knows that she hadn't. Surely he doesn't mean it! Maybe that had been his poor excuse of a joke or something? Nathaniel never _is _good at jokes.

"You need to work on your jokes, Nathaniel," she finally says, giggling nervously. "Though, I guess it _did _make me giggle, so perhaps the joke wasn't too bad after all..."

Nathaniel coughs into his fist, cheeks turning bright red. "Uhm, I wasn't joking..."

Oh.

"Oh," she says aloud, eyes widening. "_Oh! _I'm sorry, Nathaniel, I just thought you were. U-Uh...I-I would love to...dance with you."

Nathaniel smiles tentatively, shyly, at her, and then holds out his hand. Slowly, wondering idly if this is all just a well-thought dream, she places her hand in his, and he is guiding her towards the dancing couples. But it seems too elaborate of one. Too perfect.

Normally, in her dreams, she can never think up Nathaniel properly; there is always something missing about him—the slight twitch in his jaw when he smiles, that shine in his eyes, strands out of place—something that always alerts her to the fact that the Nathaniel in front of her is not the "real deal".

Now, however, when she glances up into his face...everything looks to be in place. That slight twitch, that shine, every single strand. This is not a dream. This, she is sure of.

She flinches when he places his hand on the small of her back, while his other hand continues to hold her own. He takes a step closer to her, and slowly begins to guide her in a slow waltz, perfectly in tune with the sluggish beats of the song.

She finds herself unable to look into those bright, blue eyes of her crush, and instead stares down at their feet, being sure to not step on his toes. While she isn't a horrible dancer, she isn't a perfect one, either. Plus, she hasn't really danced with a boy before—this is her first time.

She looks up, however, when Nathaniel softly says her name.

"I...that day, in the student council room..." His eyes move back and forth, as if scanning, searching her eyes for something. She wants to look away, knowing exactly which day he is talking about, but she doesn't. "...were you...going to...kiss me?"

Her hand tightens in his. This is it. The moment of truth. The moment in which she'll finally pour out her feelings for him; lay them out for him to see. And he will have to decide what will become of them next.

"Yes," she breathes out finally, continuing to keep staring up at him, unsure of where she is getting the sudden boost of strength and self-confidence from. "I-I was going to...kiss you. Nathaniel, I've...I've liked you for quite some time, actually. I hope this is not too straightforward of me."

His eyes widen, and he shakes his head frantically. "No, no! It's not!" he informs her, before slowly calming down and smiling softly at her. "Actually, I...I think I do like you. Romantically, I mean to say. I hadn't told you before, because I was a bit nervous to. You may not have been my first crush, but you are...very different from other girls I've liked. And I wasn't sure if you liked me back; you never really insinuated it."

Huh, how weird. She always thought that she was being so obvious about it, and that she should tone down. Nathaniel really had not noticed until that day, when she had almost kissed him?

"I...didn't know if you liked me, either. You didn't really seem to insinuate it yourself," she says, trying to be a bit playful about it, and sends him a small smile.

"I apologize for that. I'm never really good with explaining my feelings properly," he replies with a shrug and an apologetic smile.

"W-Why did you...not kiss me that day?" she finally gets the courage to ask. The question left her lips before she could even stop and think about it.

Nathaniel glances away, blushing. "It...I wasn't really expecting it," he confesses. "I was...embarrassed? Caught off-guard, I suppose? It's not that I didn't want to kiss you—I just never thought you liked me i-in the romantic sense."

"O-Oh," she whispers, breathing out slowly as her shoulders slump in relief.

"But...I-I'd like to kiss you. Now. If you don't mind," Nathaniel whispers, and slowly his head is descending down, towards her.

"Now? In front of everyone?" she squeaks, eyes wide.

He pauses, blinking. "R-Right. It wouldn't be proper," he mumbles, though he looks a bit disappointed. He begins to lean back, but before he can straighten up fully, she leans forward quickly and presses her lips against his. _Their first kiss._

It's as perfect as she thought it would be. Not only that, but after a moment's pause, he leans forward and kisses her back. Their lips move in sync, and they continue to dance. Uncaring of whoever is around them and whoever may be watching—whether it is Amber, or Castiel, or anyone else. Because, for those few, precious moments, nobody else matters.

And, in the end, while he never really did notice that she liked him, she never really did notice that he did, too. But now that they did, all that happened before doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that she has Nathaniel now, and he has her.

For as long as possible.

For _forever_.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you, everyone, for giving this short story of mine as much love as you did! I honestly didn't expect many comments or favourites or follows, but you guys exceeded my expectations and so I'd like to thank you so much.

Unfortunately, this is the end of this short story. It wasn't ever going to be full-fledged or anything, so if I got your hopes up, I'm deeply sorry. Still, Nathaniel and the Candy got their 'happily every after', so I hope that counts for _something_ in your guys' eyes.

Thank you, once again! I'll be sure to upload more MCL stories in the future! (I'm currently writing an Armin one-shot and maybe even an Armin full-fledged story...) Until then, goodbye and have a wonderful day!


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